Thanksgiving and Praise in Transition

We are well and safe and very grateful that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever—no matter how chaotic the world might seem.

Many thanks to all who have continued to pray for us, who carry on Aspects ministries, and who send financial support even when there seems to be good reasons not to do these things. Thank you so much for continuing to labor in the Lord and to co-labor with us!

Please know that our materials are still available as usual here on our website. Woody is processing orders, and we are here to answer questions as needed. Even though we are in some transitions (see below), ICGS is alive and well, and the Mousers still seek to serve you through this ministry and in other ways as the Lord leads.

Encouraging Words

  • God has provided a man very fluent in both English and Spanish to be an editor and reader for the Spanish translation of Seven Principles of Sexuality that is underway. This is a specific answer to prayer.

  • An enterprising Aspects facilitator has taken the social-distancing era as an opportunity for online ministry. She is leading a refresher course on the Five Aspects and has 11 students.

  • Barbara has a refresher student online for the Seasons of God course as well.

  • We get good questions from you about Bible, application, and ministry--enough to keep us busy. We are glad to know you are out there and working.

News

Late last year Bill decided to retire from his ministry as priest at St. Athanasius Anglican Church. We were in the midst of moving our ICGS offices home and seeking a new resident for the chapel when the corona virus struck. So we have had a double layer of transition and change going on in recent weeks and months.

Barbara’s home office

Barbara’s home office

Woody’s home office

Woody’s home office

Bill’s home office

Bill’s home office

Nevertheless, these transitions are going well. Woody has moved her office home which actually facilitates her work, and we are expanding our home offices to include a few more administrative duties. We will be keeping the chapel for the foreseeable future, and are praying fervently for God’s best use of it. We did not field a spring conference this year because of our transitions. As it turns out, it was for the best since it would have been cancelled anyway because of the virus. We are not opposed to doing conference work, but in the future it will have to be with the help of others.

Barbara has been somewhat bad in taking the quarantine as an excuse to throw off admin work and do nothing but write on projects she likes (e.g., God through the New Testament). But she sees the need to repent of that and keep up on daily work. Moving the office home is a great time for sifting files. It is quite an experience to go through 50 years of Bible teaching materials and 30 years of ICGS history! She is not done yet, but has made significant progress.

Prayer Requests

  1. We’re sure you are praying fervently for our nation, the church, the lost, and the sick. We will not elaborate on those much needed petitions here.

  2. Pray that we would wisely follow the Lord through the transitions of Bill’s partial retirement and the virus crisis.

  3. Pray that we establish ourselves as older believers in the relationships and works that will most serve Christ. Our goal is to Consolidate and Entrust—our stuff, our teaching, and our lives.

Grace and peace,

Bill and Barbara

P.S. A Practical Matter

Please remember that charges for our materials will show up on your credit card bills under International Council for Gender Studies, not Five Aspects. When customers disallow our charges because they don’t recognize the name, it causes us multiple difficulties.  Thank you!

2019 - Year in Review

2019 has been a full and blessed year for the Five Aspects Ministry and the Mousers. Please join with us as we Praise the Lord! for His enduring faithfulness and fruit! Here are the highlights:

Bill and Barbara connect with long-time ministry friend Kelly Moore and Logan Mason as they begin a new study.

Bill and Barbara connect with long-time ministry friend Kelly Moore and Logan Mason as they begin a new study.

  • New Website and Catalog!

  • Five Aspects Changing Lives in Ethiopia

  • More Spanish Translations – Seven Principles!

  • Bill Receives Honorary Doctorate

  • Women’s Spring Conference a Delight

  • Connecting with Ministry Friends

We also ask you to please consider supporting our ministry – sales of teaching materials make up around half of our operating expenses. The Five Aspects Ministry continues because of the people who make donations to support us in our mission to shine the light of Biblical manhood and womanhood.

New Website and Catalog!

Geneva works from home on the website.

Geneva works from home on the website.

The next generation is receiving the baton and preparing the Five Aspects ministry to reach out in this increasingly technological and global mission field. Bill and Barbara’s daughter Geneva worked for months with our new web developer, Dan Olson, to edit, design, build, and launch a new website and catalog. Thank you to everyone who bore with us as we worked through technical bugs! We look forward to deploying our new website as a ministry resource for teaching and encouragement in ministry! Praise the Lord! Favorite new features include:

  • Smart-phone compatibility

  • Free first chapters as PDF downloads for all of our publications to enhance your outreach and jump start your Bible study schedule.

  • Audio sermons on gender issues

  • New Five Aspects of Man lecture recordings

  • Read and share our Christmas Article on Lifegivers and Saviors

Five Aspects Changing Lives in Ethiopia!

Debbie Stoppa is leading a Five Aspects initiative in Ethiopia, where she grew up as a missionary kid. We are grateful to co-labor with her in this important and expanding field. Read her entire report here!

Praise the Lord!

Debbie Stoppa with her class in Soddo, Wolaita, Ethiopia

Debbie Stoppa with her class in Soddo, Wolaita, Ethiopia

More Spanish Translations – Seven Principles!

Monica Sernatinger has agreed to translate Seven Principles of Sexuality into Spanish. Monica is an excellent translator having already produced the Spanish Five Aspects of Femininity for Young Women. Seven Principles is our broadest and most foundational Bible study on gender – designed to speak to men, women, singles, couples, and groups. It is also our most succinct study – it can be completed in seven weeks. We are grateful for Monica’s work to carry this teaching into another language! Praise the Lord!

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Bill Receives Honorary Doctorate

Bill Mouser was invited to address the clergy of the Orthodox Anglican Church on the topic of "Gender and the Eucharist" and was awarded an honorary doctorate for his work in the study of Scripture and sexuality. A re-formatted manuscript of his “Gender and the Eucharist” seminar will be forthcoming on our website! Praise the Lord!

Women’s Spring Conference a Delight

The April Wisdom House Conference on Five Aspects of Man for Women was blessed with mature interaction and 37 attendees representing eleven states. Several groups have followed-up with us about plans to use the conference materials in Bible study classes, and we are planning an online roll-out of the conference materials on our website. (More about this in 2020.) Praise the Lord!

Staying in Touch

Barbara enjoyed a special get-together with women from Watermark Church in Dallas this spring. Bill and Barbara also reconnected with Kelly Moore (pictured at the top of the newsletter) as she begins a new Aspects study in Texas.

Steve and Marie Ramey continue to partner with Bill and Barbara on teaching Biblical sexuality in Kansas City. Bill did a day conference on the Savior Aspect for men, and Barbara had tea with the women! The Rameys have been in ministry with the Mousers since the 1980’s!

Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of friends in ministry and for the fruit of their service!

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Kansas City2.jpeg

Thanksgivings for Work Fellowship

Bill and Barbara are especially thankful this year for Woody's continued service and indispensable help and for Geneva and Dan bringing wonderful new, fresh, and much needed skills and insights to our team.

Praise the Lord!

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Ethiopia 2019

Debbie Stoppa’s report concerning her 2019 Five Aspects trip to Ethiopia with her father:

After this trip to Ethiopia, I am even more convinced that Five Aspects is desperately needed in the 3rd world, where women grow up not feeling valued and are asked to do many things that are not Biblical.  Your study had such a deep, almost guttural reaction from the women, that it is hard to describe the extent of its impact.  

Here's one example...one night my Dad and I were awakened by a disturbance outside our window (we were right next to the women's "dorm" rooms.  There were excited noises and voices, but we couldn't figure out what was going on.  The next day before class started, I asked one of the students what happened...she sheepishly said, we were just so excited about the material you are teaching us- we just couldn't keep quiet!  In a nutshell, that explains how my 2 plus weeks went.  The women heard the Word, accepted it and were changed by it.  Not only changed, but ready to share it with the women in their sphere of influence.  Since they are all leaders in their churches, they will be given a platform to share what they learned.  

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The area where I taught was Wolaita, in the city of Soddo.  It is an area that has over 1.5 million believers. The city has over 25 churches, five of which have 3000-5000 attendees per week.  The church is so strong here that they send out missionaries to other areas and have women on staff at their churches.  The Ethiopian leaders expressed their deep gratitude for the missionaries that put so much effort into teaching 40 yrs ago when my Dad taught in the Bible school there.  We got to see the faithfulness of God over the last 50+ years.  Now the local church and seminary is completely run by nationals...which was my Dad's vision some 40 years ago!  Praise God!

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I feel so blessed to have been able to take the GOOD NEWS of the beauty of Woman to them.  Thank you for creating Five Aspects-  for all of the time and energy you spent over the last 30 years improving it and making it better each time.

I hope the Lord will raise up Five Aspects teachers who will be willing to take the material overseas.  I pray that the Lord will give many opportunities and invitations to go.  The impact will be double or triple what it is in the US.  We are so fortunate to live in a culture where women are already valued.  In 3rd world countries, it is not a given, so when they see what it really means to be made in God's image, they can't help but be changed.  I know I was extremely blessed because these women had a firm Biblical background, so when they were confronted with God's design, even with submission, they were able to embrace it.  Now, they are crying out for their men to know how to value women.  Even though there is a distinct difference between the way a believing man treats his wife, they still have a long way to go.  (My dad thinks one of the male profs. should teach the men Five Aspects of Woman, so they can understand how much God values women and how being a strong woman can complement men.)   Anyway, another subject for another time!

Thanks again for your work and for allowing us to spread God's amazing news. 

Warm Regards in the name of Jesus Christ,

Debbie Stoppa